Living Legacy
by Shadow Nightblade
Summary: "I don't think I've ever seen you without that scarf on, Weiss." Ruby's voice surprised the heiress, making her glance over her shoulder as she saw her and the rest of the team walking over. "Hmm? Well, it's important to me, Ruby." (One-Shot about Weiss and her Grandfather's Scarf)


**This was written a while ago, even before we were told about Weiss getting a scarf in V6. I wrote this one day for fun and just had it in a doc for this long. I feel like posting it now since I've been really slow on updates for Wilds' Daughter.**

**This is an alternate route of what would happen after V3. Basically the attack on Beacon happened, but it wasn't as bad, so things were able to be rebuilt and the students were able to continue attending school. Basically Cinder failed, got away, and the dragon wasn't a thing, while Ozpin, Pyrrha and Penny survived. This is not me complaining about V3, but for this one shot, I wanted a certain basis to where it could be set.**

* * *

"I never knew that Grandfather wanted me to have it…" Weiss said, clutching the red scarf close to her chest as she felt Winter rubbing her shoulder. "Why me and not you? I don't understand." She lowered her hand, making sure not to drop the scarf as it blew in the wind.

Winter lifted her hand off Weiss' shoulder, smiling at her as she shook her head. "There's no reason to question why, little sister. He wanted you to have it, so tell me this, do you wish to keep it?"

The younger Schnee sibling looked down at it, sniffling a bit as she had high respect for her Grandfather, much more respect than she could ever have for her father. "I will. I'm just… Surprised is all."

"I can see that, but I know our Grandfather is happy to pass it down to you." Winter reached over, rubbing her sister's hair a bit. "Feel proud, little sister. Father could never come close to living up to Grandfather's legacy, but you will."

Weiss felt a tear fall down her cheek, thinking about her Grandfather as she tightened her grip on the red scarf. "Winter… I promise-."

"No, don't make any promises, Weiss. Grandfather's legacy does not mean to do what he did, but to live your life, doing what you wish to do, and to not be like our father. This isn't a set path, sister. It is your life, and it's why our Grandfather trusted you with this."

* * *

Weiss remembered what her sister told her, having the red scarf wrapped around her neck as it draped down her back, and she took in the fresh air. "I don't think I've ever seen you without that scarf on, Weiss."

Ruby's voice surprised the heiress, making her glance over her shoulder as she saw her and the rest of the team walking over. "Hmm? Well, it's important to me, Ruby." Weiss expressed as she looked over the cliff she was sitting near.

Her partner joined her by sitting on the soft grass next to her. "I know what you mean." She fiddled with her cloak, smiling a bit as she started looking over the cliff as well.

Yang chose to stand, looking down at the heiress. "I remember when Blake and I wore scarves too. If you wanna get another opinion on it, I think it looks good on you."

Weiss let out a small smile, gently clutching the red scarf. "Thank you, but I never thought about it in the way of a simple accessory. It belonged to my Grandfather… I'll never lose it."

Blake thought about Nicholas Schnee, the man who truly gave the Schnee name something to praise. And how Jacques somehow managed to change how the world viewed that name. Weiss however was beginning to show Blake that it wasn't impossible to regain that old status that Nicholas set for the family name.

"I've seen pictures of him before." Blake suddenly said, getting Weiss' attention as the heiress turned to look up at her. "It's funny how I was able to see him in pictures with that exact scarf, and now I'm seeing it up close."

Just hearing how people out in the world would see pictures of her Grandfather with that scarf on made Weiss feel that bit of pressure, having to live up to her Grandfather in people's eyes if they recognized the scarf, especially on her since she's a Schnee.

Blake was able to notice how Weiss reacted, so she knelt down and smiled. "I think it fits."

Weiss was holding the scarf with her right hand, surprised to hear that from Blake as she returned the smile. "I hope others feel the same."

Ruby grinned and took Weiss' hand in her own, helping the heiress up. "You know they will. You're already doing what your Grandfather did, right? I remember you told us he was a huntsman."

Blake had stood back up as well, nodding in agreement, while Weiss sighed happily. "He was, yes. And a very well known and powerful one."

They began walking back to Beacon, with Yang stretching a bit. "Yeah, I heard he was pretty damn tough for a huntsman, and to really get your family's business out there too. That's pretty impressive."

Weiss could feel her heart was starting to beat a little faster. "Y-Yeah."

Ruby caught the stutter, and wondered what could have made Weiss do that. "You okay?"

"I-I'm fine… Just a little nervous." They stopped when they got to the statue in front of Beacon, so she took a few moments to look up at it. "Just thinking about him, and how much he's done… I don't know if I'll be able to live up to that."

Yang shook her head, patting her shoulder a few times. "No one says you gotta do that, Weiss. Besides, your grandad gave you that scarf, right?" When the heiress nodded, Yang continued. "Then there ya go. You obviously showed him something about yourself that made him give you it. I'd say that's good enough-."

"But it's not, Yang." Weiss' interruption surprised the blonde. "After what happened to Beacon… I don't know. I felt like I didn't do enough. I thought about how my Grandfather would fight harder than I did… I can't just stop at 'good enough'."

The others grimaced at the memory of how Beacon was almost lost. Blake hated that day more than any other, since she remembered how Adam completely beat her down, and not only that, hurt Yang as well. The blonde herself rubbed her arm, thinking about how Adam almost cut it off, but they were able to escape after a teacher had shown up and chased the bull Faunus away.

Ruby herself thought more about that day than most, since she couldn't stop what happened to Penny. The fight with Pyrrha cost the girl her legs, and Pyrrha blamed herself, since Penny had to be taken back to Atlas for long term repairs, and even after a year, she still didn't return.

So the person to speak up, was Ruby. "Weiss, you can't look back on that day and say what you could've done. No one can change the past, and besides… I heard what you did for Velvet. You saved her."

Weiss continued to look up at the statue, shaking her head as she focused on her partner. "I'm not saying I want to change the past, but it's still true. If I pushed myself like my Grandfather did in his huntsman days, maybe I could've done more."

"You just said it yourself. His huntsman days." Yang had remarked. "He probably wasn't like he was after he graduated compared to his first year, Weiss. Don't beat yourself up about it." Yang rubbed her arm again. "Hell, at least you were able to actually save someone…" Blake's ears drooped from her partner's words.

The heiress felt bad for even complaining, her scarf now flowing in the wind. "I-I'm sorry, Yang. I didn't mean-."

"It's okay." Yang did her best to let out the smallest smile she could, and she chose to reach out to hug the heiress, who returned the embrace since the attack on Beacon made Weiss appreciate her team more than ever, viewing them as her family. "Don't compare yourself to anyone, Weiss. You don't gotta do that."

After feeling Yang pull away from the hug, she felt the blonde rub her head, just like Winter had the day she gave her the scarf. Weiss said nothing, just allowing the feeling to be savored.

Ruby was proud of her sister, since she remembered how depressed and broken down Yang was during the cool off period after the attack on Beacon. "Y'know, why don't we take on a mission? That'll raise your spirits."

Weiss was taken aback by the sudden suggestion. "A mission? Are you sure?"

"Why not? It's good for training, and we'd be doing something good by clearing out an area, or whatever else we'd do." Yang noted.

The heiress looked to Ruby, out of respect for her as the leader. "It's up to you, Ruby. Would you like us to take on a mission?"

Ruby couldn't hold back the grin on her face. "Like you have to ask." Weiss playfully rolled her eyes as her partner began running towards the school. "Catch up, guys!"

After she called out to them, they all chuckled and ran up to catch her.

* * *

The mission the team had taken was one to help an excavation team get through a marked area by fending off any Grimm and keeping them safe. "We'll make sure everyone here is kept safe, sir." Ruby said to the representative of the company who hired them through Beacon.

The man was wearing a suit, and he took a few moments to examine the team. "Yes, well seeing as you four are training at Beacon, I hope your word will be kept."

Ruby nodded, knowing that even with their skills, the man couldn't know how they fought by simply looking at them. "Their safety is top priority." Ever since the attack on Beacon, Ruby had taken her life as a huntress in training a lot more serious.

Weiss smiled from hearing her partner, and she watched as the team they were supposed to be guarding walked over. "We're ready to begin, sir." They said to the representative, and he nodded in response.

"I'll leave you all to it." The man said, walking over to one of the transports. "I expect a report by tomorrow."

As the transport took the representative away, the excavation team looked to the team, waiting on their lead, and Blake spoke up. "Don't get left behind for anything."

They nodded, knowing not to split off from the group as Ruby began leading the way into the forest. "Soooo, a certain cave that leads into a mine was found?" The team leader asked.

"That's right." One of the excavators answered. "The last people… Well, um, they reported it via scroll… But we lost contact with them after."

Yang sighed. "Damn. Sorry to hear that. Is that why your boss sent out a request for a team to help out?"

"Yes. We don't know if it was Grimm that got them, but for now our boss didn't want to take any risks." Another excavator explained.

Weiss thought about the stories of her father's mines, and how people would end up losing their lives in them. It made her bite her lip, almost feeling guilty about it. The situation the other excavators got in was more of a drive for her to make sure the mission was a success. She gripped her scarf and thought about her Grandfather, wanting to show people that she was going to live the way she wanted to.

* * *

The team had no problems dealing with the Grimm in the area. Most were just stragglers, so there weren't large packs for them to deal with. It was simple enough to give the excavators some form of relief, to not be nervous about their excursion, seeing as the last group lost contact with them a few days prior.

"We're making good ground." Weiss noted. "And it doesn't look like we'll run into any Elder Grimm around here."

"Elder Grimm?" One of the excavators repeated in a questioning manner.

"Really old Grimm that aren't pushovers." Yang's answer may have been simple, but it was all they needed to know, making two of the four of them gulp, not knowing if the four girls could handle a threat like that.

Blake could tell they were a bit more unsure of the mission, so she cut in. "We haven't seen or heard any around the area, so it's more than likely not a place they would be. Elders aren't out in the open all the time, unlike some Goliaths, and those are too big for the area we're in."

"So… We're safe still?" One of the more nervous excavators asked, getting a nod from Blake, so they sighed in somewhat relief, since they still had their doubts.

Weiss looked around, noticing the cave they needed to get into, so she nudged Ruby a bit to get her attention. "I think that's the one."

Ruby looked over, and once she checked the map they received on her scroll, she confirmed it was indeed the cave. "That's it. Okay, Blake, Yang, stay behind the excavators. Weiss, you're with me."

They all nodded, taking up their positions as instructed, and as Ruby led the team through the cave, one of the excavators took note of two things Weiss had. "Hey, sorry to ask, but… I just realized. Aren't you a Schnee?"

Weiss glanced over her shoulder, nodding once to the man who asked. "I am. Yes."

"Huh, never thought I'd see a Schnee out here like this." His comment wasn't exactly the kindest, so Weiss simply shrugged it off. "Just saying. Aren't you rich? I mean, what's the point of doing any of this?"

Ruby was about to stop the man from asking her partner about her life choices, but Weiss handled it herself. "If you must know, this is a choice I made from how I wish to live. Clearly you don't know about how my family's company started, seeing as my Grandfather, a huntsman mind you, was the start of it all." Her tone was reminiscent of how she spoke to her team during the first year at Beacon.

Yang grinned when the man had no other questions, though one person in the excavation team did speak up. One of the women. "I remember him. He ended up really sick and-.."

"Enough. I don't see any reason to discuss my family anymore. Now focus on your job." Weiss ordered, her heart feeling a bit of pain on hearing how sick her Grandfather was.

Ruby could see the hurt in her partner's face, so she spoke up next. "If you have questions, keep it to the mission your boss got us out here to do." The excavators, and even Weiss were surprised by how Ruby spoke, so they simply nodded, keeping to themselves. "Blake, Yang, stay with them for now. Weiss and I are gonna scout ahead to find the entrance to the mine."

Both Blake and Yang nodded, keeping their weapons ready for anything as they made sure to watch their backs at times, in case any Grimm chose to follow them from behind.

Weiss followed her partner deeper into the cave, until Ruby chose to stop her, confusing the heiress. "Why did we stop?"

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, her team being her number one priority, no matter what she said to the representative earlier. "I know what they said wasn't something you really wanted to talk about."

The heiress stood there for a moment, but after taking it in, she let out a light chuckle and ran her hand through her hair. "Look at you… Growing up way faster than any of us…" Ruby blushed a little, and Weiss smiled. "I'm okay. Thank you for asking."

"A-Are you sure? I saw-." Ruby was cut off when Weiss gave her a light hug.

"I never like being reminded that my Grandfather is bedridden… That he might not have a lot of time left, but even so, I promise I'm okay." Weiss pulled away and clutched her red scarf with her right hand. "One day, I'd honestly like you, Blake and Yang to meet him... " She sniffled, thinking about her Grandfather's reaction to her team.

Ruby returned the smile. "Yeah, I'd love to meet him too so I can tell him what an amazing partner and huntress you are."

Weiss playfully rolled her eyes. "I'm not a huntress yet, you dolt… But thank you."

Their little moment was interrupted when they heard someone. "I-Is someone there?! Please tell me I wasn't hearing things again!"

Ruby and Weiss were startled by the voice, but then thought about something. "Yes, we're, uh, well, I'm not sure where we are compared to you, but we're at least close enough for you to hear."

The two partners looked around, listening in close to where the source of the voice was coming from. "Over here!" They looked to their left, seeing what looked to be a cave in. "Please get us out!"

Weiss held her hand to her mouth in shock. "It's the other excavating team." Quickly both her and Ruby ran over, trying their best to pull some rocks away. "Is everyone in there okay?"

The excavator that had been calling out to them looked back, seeing one of them looked sick, while two of them were unconscious. "I-I'm the only one who can really move around a lot, two of them are unconscious, and the other is sick… Please… Please get us out of here." They were on the verge of tears.

Ruby growled, unable to get the rocks out, so she looked to Weiss. "Did you bring gravity dust with you?"

Weiss nodded, pulling out a few crystals in a case she brought with her. "You said there were two unconscious in there?" After the person speaking to them answered her, she nodded. "Right, we need to get them medical attention as soon as possible then."

"After you use the gravity dust, can you use your glyphs to move the rocks?" Ruby asked, hoping her partner could in case the gravity dust doesn't last long.

"I should be able to." Weiss loaded a crystal into the chamber of her weapon and spun around, slamming it into the ground, right in front of the rocks as they began to float away from each other.

The person behind the rocks gasped and backed away. "H-Hey, we're getting out of here… We're actually getting out." He said to his team, mostly to the sick one since she was the only one conscious, so he ran over and started lifting up one of the unconscious ones.

Weiss began to move the rocks out of the way with her glyphs, while Ruby ran in once there was an opening. She saw the person that was sick had been clutching her stomach, so she ran over and checked on her. "We'll get you medical attention. Can you walk?"

She nodded, but pointed over at the other unconscious excavator. "Get him out… First…" She started coughing, and she had bags under her eyes, so sleep deprivation was a factor there.

Ruby quickly ran over, slowly getting the unconscious man up. It wasn't too hard to lift him, since she had no trouble carrying around a heavy sniper scythe all the time.

While she and the excavators got out, Weiss stopped moving the rocks and looked to the man who had called out to them in the first place. "What happened here?"

The man took several breaths, the feeling of being saved shooting his adrenaline while he set one of the unconscious ones against the wall. "Grimm… There were Grimm here and they tried to kill us, but," He looked to one of the unconscious excavators. "He brought over some dust to try and mine faster with it, so instead he used it and caused a cave in. That small portion was all we could stay in this whole time…"

Weiss sighed. "While I don't understand why one of your team would ever think bringing dust on excavating is a good idea, it did save you all in the end." She reached into her pack, since Ruby had the entire team bring supplies with them, and got out a water bottle. "Here."

After tossing it to the man, he shook his head and walked over to woman who was sick. "You'll need this more than me." The woman sniffled, having been crying recently as she nodded, taking the bottle as she uncapped it and began to drink.

Ruby got her scroll out and sent a message to Blake and Yang, telling them that they found the other excavating team. "What happened to your scrolls?"

"I dropped mine… And the others left their scrolls in their packs. Which we couldn't grab since we left them on the ground before the Grimm attacked." The man admitted, feeling like an idiot for dropping their only lifelines.

Weiss knew that if they didn't have their packs, they must be starving, so she reached into Ruby's bag and pulled out some food they prepared. "Don't eat too fast and when we get out of this cave, stick close to us. Okay?"

"Y-Yeah, we got it… Thank you." He sniffled, accepting the two sandwiches she handed him as he gave the other to the sick woman. "M-My name is Aaron Fuschia , and this is Jesse… My wife, so thank you for rescuing us…" He felt tears falling down his face, since his wife's safety meant more to him than anything.

Weiss looked over at the man's wife, watching as she sat next to the unconscious members of their team, so she frowned and spoke to Ruby in a quiet tone. "We should focus on getting them back to Vale first. Save getting the other team out here for another time."

Ruby nodded. "That's what I was thinking too. I'll make sure to tell the other team about it."

Aaron walked over to his wife, sitting down by her as she slowly ate her sandwich, so he held her hand tight. "I'm so sorry…"

Weiss clenched her fist, thinking about the families that have lost their lives in her father's mines. It reminded her of what he's done to her Grandfather's legacy, so she gripped Myrtenaster and kept watch for any Grimm.

"Wait…" Aaron stood up when Weiss had turned her back to him. "I know that symbol…" Weiss grimaced when she heard that. "And… That scarf." That part surprised the heiress, and she turned around to see the man looking even more hopeful. "You're related to Nicholas Schnee, aren't you?"

Ruby spoke up. "I don't think you have to ask her about-."

"It's okay, Ruby." Weiss cut her off. "Yes, is there anything you have to say about that?"

"Huh? I… I just never got to ask this before. At least not to a member of their family. What happened?" Weiss bit her lip, knowing what he was asking. "Nicholas Schnee sounded like a better man than-."

"My father, yes…" Weiss finished his sentence, and Jesse looked over in surprise as well. "My name is Weiss Schnee, and yes, my father is the current president of the company."

Aaron rubbed the back of his head. "Well… Why-."

"Is he so different from my Grandfather? Because he snaked his way into the family and ruined my Grandfather's legacy." Weiss hated having to explain it, but she needed to get it off her chest.

Jesse coughed a bit. "I-If I may… I know…" She coughed again, so her husband kneeled over to rub her back. "I know what your father has done, but… I remember what your Grandfather did too… Seeing you out here." Another cough. "R-Reminds me of the stories… I would see about him. How he saved… People from Grimm." She let out a smile. "That scarf reminds me so much of him… You wear it… Well."

Weiss blushed, gripping her scarf as she felt a tear fall down her face. Someone, a person she helped rescue just said how she reminded them of her Grandfather. Before she could say anything, they all heard a growl, so the heiress and her partner turned around to see several Beowolves heading over.

"Ruby." Weiss said, and her partner nodded, readying Crescent Rose in sniper form.

"Can you keep them at bay until Blake and Yang catch up?" Ruby raised her sniper up, scoping in to shoot at one, nailing it right between the eyes, but she saw more beginning to approach, while Weiss ran over to the oncoming Grimm.

Aaron and Jesse watched as the heiress began cutting down the Grimm, almost as if she was dancing while doing so, while Ruby provided sniper fire. As they watched, the married couple thought about Nicholas Schnee more and more, but also thought about how Weiss was handling things.

"Honey… About that girl's father…" Jesse started and her husband waited on what she would say, she smiled and continued. "I don't think anyone has to worry about the future of that company anymore." Aaron smiled back, nodding in agreement.

Ruby actually heard what the woman said, and she couldn't help but smile as well, while continuing to provide her partner sniper support.

* * *

After cutting the Grimm down, Ruby told the excavation team they had arrived there with to contact the representative about finding another day for the mission, since they had to get the other team medical attention.

While the representative was a bit annoyed about having to move days, he eventually conceded and Team RWBY had been able to get the missing excavation team to a hospital, but not before the married couple they saved stopped to speak with Weiss.

"You shouldn't waste any time here with-." Weiss was cut off before she could say more.

"Thank you." Aaron was the first to speak while he was in the airship with his wife, who was in a gurney, while the other two unconscious members of the excavation team had been wheeled out to the hospital. "You saved our lives," He looked to the rest of the team. "All of you."

Ruby smiled, but she let her partner handle speaking with them. "Y-You don't have to thank us. It's what we train for."

Jesse spoke up next. "Yes, and you're doing an amazing job. Just like your Grandfather." As she said that, Weiss felt her heart pang, and she grasped at her scarf.

"You might actually become even better than he was." Aaron stated, and the heiress couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I… Thank you…" Weiss sniffled, not letting any tears fall since she wanted to be composed in front of the couple.

They both nodded, smiling as they started getting escorted to the hospital, while Ruby hugged her partner. "See…"

Blake and Yang couldn't help but smile as well for the heiress. "Oh shut it, you dolt…" Weiss hugged her back as the wind from outside made her scarf flow.

Ruby pulled away, chuckling a little. "Y'know, I think I wanna take you up on that offer. About meeting your Grandfather. Can we?"

Yang cut in. "Whoa, you offered that, princess?" Weiss groaned at the nickname. "Oh I definitely gotta meet him and tell him how you tried to fight with a swordfish that one time." Her snickering made Weiss roll her eyes.

"You're one to talk, Ms. Turkey Gauntlets." Weiss retorted, while Yang grinned.

Blake wanted to speak up too after hearing the offer. "I don't know if you really meant it, but I would like to meet him as well."

The cat Faunus' request surprised Weiss. "Y-You do?"

"He's nothing like your father, Weiss, so of course I would. Besides," Blake smiled. "Seeing as you're a lot more like him than I originally thought, I know I can get along with him."

Just hearing that made Weiss tear up, even with her attempts to keep them at bay, so she hugged the cat Faunus. Blake hugged her back, while Ruby joined in on the hug.

Yang chuckled, but yelped when her sister pulled her into the group hug. "You three… Thank you. I can't wait for you to meet him." As her tears of joy fell, what she loved the most was her scarf flowing from the wind, a reminder that she would continue to live how she wanted, and how she would always have her Grandfather by her side.

* * *

**Again, this was mostly something I did for fun, but I felt it would be nice to share. I hope this was as fun to read as it was for me to write. **

**I hoped you all enjoyed this. Remember, reviews are welcomed, but not required. See you all in my other stories.**


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